To her distorted fancy he was a man among men, a hero, all that was admirable and magnificent.

1900, John Fox Jr., Crittenden: A Kentucky Story of Love and War, ch. 7:

At the head of it rode two men—one with a quiet mesmeric power that bred perfect trust at sight, the other with a kindling power of enthusiasm, and a passionate energy, mental, physical, emotional, that was tireless; each a man among men, and both together an ideal leader for the thousand Americans at their heels.